No 1254 of Living Life Series 1
The good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 is no ordinary saint. He is not of any religion but he has to descend and make himself known through one.
He chose Chinese culture which is the least organised among religions but steep in richness of culture. Chinese culture too mirrors what he wants us to know and do.
Chinese culture integrates the saints of all religions and see no need for the individual to be labelled as belonging to any religion. It too does not object to religious labels either.
The Chinese traditionally respect and venerate God and saints from all cultures and religions. Saints and practices of religions are integrated and assume a strong Chinese cultural flavor so as to be more of culture than of religion.
What many want out of the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 is that he be like all other saints. Many go for worldly blessings. They would do good and be charitable so as to have more worldly blessings such as wealth, good and more children, good education, good jobs, and luck at lottery.
To the many who come to him like insects to the flower for nectar, he provides the nectar. This was mentioned by him.
But some only want nectar and do not go beyond nectar. Blame not the lord for this, just like we do not blame the flower for insects coming to it.
In fact only a few will do so. The Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 we know is more than a provider of nectar - worldly blessings. He has the other side which we need to know.
This is the real Bo Tien 武天菩萨 we need to know. He wants us to know the truth - the doctrine in religions.
There is the same inner core teachings behind and across religions. There is need to be good, not just receive what we think is good for us. We need to be good and loving for life our own and the lives of others and all beings as well. We need to wish everyone to have the goodness of life.
To do this, we need to cultivate goodness that is not just for self for that will be not good enough. We need to contribute to the goodness of life for all.
We must ensure that by doing so, we do not sacrifice and deny our own good or put ourselves in the forefront of good. We cannot be selfish. We cannot run away from ourselves as well.
We need to strike the balance. We need to be atop the ups and downs in life. We need to be at peace.
To have peace, we need to be pure in spirit - pure in thoughts, actions and speech. We must be gentle, kind, soft spoken and pleasant out from the bottom of our being.
We need to walk the talk. Then we are near to God and saints and can be with God and saints.
The Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 many know as the provider of nectar is not what we should know. We need to know the true Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨.
The true lord is the doctrine or truth. Thus he says of himself when he refers to his wooden image that "the image is the doctrine and the doctrine is the image" He who sees, knows and practise the truth, sees and knows the lord - the true Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 that we should know.
He chose Chinese culture which is the least organised among religions but steep in richness of culture. Chinese culture too mirrors what he wants us to know and do.
Chinese culture integrates the saints of all religions and see no need for the individual to be labelled as belonging to any religion. It too does not object to religious labels either.
The Chinese traditionally respect and venerate God and saints from all cultures and religions. Saints and practices of religions are integrated and assume a strong Chinese cultural flavor so as to be more of culture than of religion.
What many want out of the good lord Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 is that he be like all other saints. Many go for worldly blessings. They would do good and be charitable so as to have more worldly blessings such as wealth, good and more children, good education, good jobs, and luck at lottery.
To the many who come to him like insects to the flower for nectar, he provides the nectar. This was mentioned by him.
But some only want nectar and do not go beyond nectar. Blame not the lord for this, just like we do not blame the flower for insects coming to it.
In fact only a few will do so. The Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 we know is more than a provider of nectar - worldly blessings. He has the other side which we need to know.
This is the real Bo Tien 武天菩萨 we need to know. He wants us to know the truth - the doctrine in religions.
There is the same inner core teachings behind and across religions. There is need to be good, not just receive what we think is good for us. We need to be good and loving for life our own and the lives of others and all beings as well. We need to wish everyone to have the goodness of life.
To do this, we need to cultivate goodness that is not just for self for that will be not good enough. We need to contribute to the goodness of life for all.
We must ensure that by doing so, we do not sacrifice and deny our own good or put ourselves in the forefront of good. We cannot be selfish. We cannot run away from ourselves as well.
We need to strike the balance. We need to be atop the ups and downs in life. We need to be at peace.
To have peace, we need to be pure in spirit - pure in thoughts, actions and speech. We must be gentle, kind, soft spoken and pleasant out from the bottom of our being.
We need to walk the talk. Then we are near to God and saints and can be with God and saints.
The Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 many know as the provider of nectar is not what we should know. We need to know the true Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨.
The true lord is the doctrine or truth. Thus he says of himself when he refers to his wooden image that "the image is the doctrine and the doctrine is the image" He who sees, knows and practise the truth, sees and knows the lord - the true Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 that we should know.
